


Chiaroscuro

by GuyOfShy



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Chloe only through texting, Comfort, F/F, Marshfield - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 15:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15975479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuyOfShy/pseuds/GuyOfShy
Summary: Kate was transitioning back to Blackwell as smoothly as possible with all the support given to her. However, Max's morning visits were the brightest points of her day. Especially on the bad days like today, Max was the one thing she needed most.





	Chiaroscuro

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Sonicbrat’s wonderful song [”A Matter of Time”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri2SEckMNkM).

Max was thankful that Kate could still find it in her to remain an early riser. And so proud, and sad. Yet so happy. Inspired, too, considering that even with all of her emotional baggage Kate had to sleep with, she still woke up earlier than Max. Max just hoped that her trauma wasn’t the reason why… There were many emotions for Max to consider in the short time it took to cross the hall and knock on Kate’s door every morning.

“Hey Kate. It’s me,” Max said with a tap of her knuckles, as if it wasn’t obvious by her voice.

A few seconds passed before Kate told her to come in, voice deflated with what Max would have loved to think was just morning grogginess. Part of it was, of course, but she knew how easily some dark feelings could encroach on Kate’s vulnerable heart. Especially considering that she was back in Blackwell, which, despite becoming more supporting and considerate toward her, remained a sore spot to her soul.

But that was why Max was here. The “light in her dark”, as Kate had put it, though Max didn’t like to think of it in such a grandiose way. She was just trying to be the best friend, and girlfriend, that Kate deserved, though the roles tended to blend together more often than not.

Max opened Kate’s door. The lights were still off, though morning sun streamed through the open window and the lamp at Kate’s desk was lit, setting a fresh, bright stage to draw at. However, Kate currently sat on the couch on the other side of the room, chin resting on her knees drawn to her chest.

“Good morning, Max,” she said through a rather heavy sigh.

“Hey. Mind if I turn on the lights?” Max asked, finger already under the switch.

Kate shook her head against her knees. Max brightened up her room and sat next to her, who sat up and smiled. It didn’t seem forced to Max, which was relieving, though she wondered what she was doing sitting all the way over here.

“Were you drawing?” Max asked with a glance to her desk, seeing papers and pencils strewn across it.

“Trying.”

“Not going so well?”

“It’s not that. I… just had a sudden feeling come over me. I’m fine.”

“A sudden feeling?” Max didn’t need to ask to know exactly what she meant. It was all too easy to lose faith in your craft, and in yourself: “The Artist’s Reward” as Ernest Hemingway had wryly labeled it, all too apropos. Max sidled closer to pull Kate’s arms from around her legs and hold her hands. “You sure you’re fine?”

“Promise.” Kate nodded, smiling again and squeezing her hands.

“Good.” Max returned both gestures, but Kate’s eyes quickly turned downward to stare at their hands. Or rather, away from Max. The sudden withdrawal didn’t concern Max; Kate had confessed that she found difficulty in looking at Max for too long on account of the utter joy it brought her.

The first time Kate had noticed, she started laughing nervously next to Max. “I’m grinning like an idiot,” she’d noted before hiding her face behind her hands, though her blush had reached her ears.

Max just started laughing. “You’re amazing, Kate,” she’d said, finding her sudden shyness too adorable. Kate had made Max promise not to tease her about it anymore, so she let it slip by this time. Kate’s brows soon creased again, however.

“Um… I was getting a little frustrated with my drawings. So I was taking a break.”

“Believe me, I can relate… I was just about to ask if I could look at them,” Max said with another look toward her desk. “May I?”

“Oh, of course.”

Kate had never protested to sharing her art before, even works in progress—with Max, at least—but Max still asked to be sure she was okay with it. Max sat down at her desk over a half-finished drawing of a snake, with other papers slid into a haphazard pile in the corner. More in progress, or prototypes that she’d given up on? Max glanced at the trash can next to the desk to make sure Kate was keeping up with her promise of keeping it empty of art (not that she doubted her), but it was gone entirely. Max scanned the room and found it sitting alone in the other corner of the room by the door.

“I was hoping that I won’t feel urged to trash anything if I can’t just slide it in so easily, and so far it’s worked.” Kate stood up to join Max at her desk.

“I told you that I’ll take anything you don’t want to keep, remember? Any scraps and sketches will be worth a lot of money one day when you make it big.”

Kate chuckled at that. “I have to actually finish something first. You can take these, if you want,” Kate said, sliding a small stack of sheets in front of Max. “I was just brainstorming with them,” Kate explained shyly as Max peered through rough sketches of different animals.

Anatomy practice? Lots of children’s books were drawn with animals instead of humans, after all. On the last sheet in the stack were a few even less-detailed drawings of snakes slithering and bending in different directions, each covered in different skins of scales, feathers, fur. But Kate didn’t seem like a very snake-y person to Max…

“And this one on the desk you’re in the middle of?” She asked, trying not to sound concerned that she’d decided on snakes as her subject.

“Yes. I think I’ll actually end up finishing it. Hopefully.”

It was much more detailed than any of Kate’s other drawings. The ones that Max had seen, at least, but she was pretty sure that she had seen them all by now. Two snakes swallowing their own tails, but interlocked between each other. One was almost fully drawn in with heavy linework, bold and sharp, while the other was only outlined so far.

“Oh! This is… come on Max, I know you know… what’s the word?” The image was so clear in her mind but she couldn’t grasp the name.

“An ouroboros,” Kate offered.

“Yeah, that’s it. One of Chloe’s favorite shirts has one on it. That’s where I’ve seen it. What made you decide to draw something like that?”

“I wanted to vent and do something different, and it just popped into my head. They represent very sentimental concepts to me, which is kinda how I’m feeling right now… I know it isn’t very much like my normal drawings. Much less like children’s books.”

“No, it looks awesome…” Max managed to pry her eyes away and look at Kate to say, “I really like it.”

“Thanks. I’ve pretty much finished the general shape of it, and I was just starting to add details.”

“You mean like the scales on this one?”

“Mhm. I know I want each one to look different, but I can’t decide on how to draw the second…”

“That’s crazy cool Kate, really. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished. In any case, you’ve got one girl willing to auction whatever she has for it.”

“You always say that,” Kate chuckled. “Even when you don’t know how it’ll end up looking.”

“Because I know that it will for sure look freaking fantastic. I mean, are you seeing what I’m seeing right now?” Max asked, gesturing at her current work. “Like everything else you’ve drawn, it’ll be awesome.”

Kate’s shy smile returned, stronger than ever. Beyond a humble “thank you” she never knew how to respond to praise about her art, much less such glowing optimism from Max. Kate took the drawing from her and stared long and hard at it. Her eyes drifted around what she had drawn, and imagined further, picturing it finished. Convincing herself that she could do it; for Max, if not for herself.

“I’ll do my best,” she murmured, grinning away at Max.

“That’s all that I want,” Max reminded her softly, before suddenly perking up. “Oh, but speaking of wanting this, you’ve got not one, but two girls who would totally buy this. One of them being me, obviously, but Chloe would totally get a kick out of this.”

“Really?”

“Hundred percent. Chloe already has the one ouroboros shirt and she’s been telling me for so long about how she wants another. If we got this printed on a shirt for her her reaction would be priceless… hey, do you mind if I send her a picture?”

“…Shouldn’t you wait until I get closer to finishing it?” Kate tried, suddenly feeling unsure after just reaffirming herself. She hadn’t shown her art to anyone other than Max… yet.

“What are you worried about? I can’t wait until it’s finished, which is why I want to show it to Chloe so badly. Please?”

Max really didn’t like trying to force Kate to do anything she didn't want to. But sometimes, her shyness concerning her artwork got the better of her. She was breaking out of her social shell little by little, with Max’s help as well as the rest of the students supporting her now. But Kate adamantly restricted her art career to herself and to Max, for the time being.

Kate knew Max had only the best intentions, though.

“Alright. If you say so, I believe you.”

“I know so. Thanks Kate.”

“I should be thanking you for the exposure,” Kate said only half-jokingly while Max pulled out her phone and snapped a careful picture.

“I’m excited to know what she thinks, but knowing Chloe, she probably won’t be awake this early in the morning. Barely past seven on a weekend? Yeah, not a chance,” Max said, glancing at the time as she sent the picture. She slipped her phone back into her pocket and looked back up at Kate, who smiled when their eyes met again.

Max was glad to see how much her mood had improved. From sulking to smiling in a matter of minutes. She was such a bright person when she allowed herself to be. Max’s heart fluttered knowing that she could make Kate realize that, could make her feel good and happy when she needed it.

“Feeling any better?” Max asked, hoping to hear Kate say it herself.

"I do, now that I've talked about it more with you. And now that you’re here," she added shyly, unsure if it needed to be said aloud. It didn’t really, but Max was glad that she did. Slowly more and more compliments and sweet remarks trickled from Kate as she grew more comfortable with Max and trusting of her reactions. She was still unsure of being in a relationship, much less with a girl and even less after her recent tribulations, but whenever words hesitated in her throat, Kate felt too much love for Max to not say them. She couldn’t deny those feelings, no matter how afraid she thought she was of expressing them. Earning a smile from Max was worth it.

And Max did smile—she wasn’t the best at receiving compliments either—though she wished she could kiss Kate right now without ruining the mood.

“I’ll give the master her seat back then.”

Kate giggled at that as Max stood and they swapped places.

“You can pull up that chair, if you want,” Kate suggested, wanting to keep Max close.

"Just don't let me distract you,” Max replied, accepting her invitation and sitting directly next to her as she had hoped. Truth be told, getting sidetracked with Max was the idea that Kate had…

"It's kind of hard not to. You're prettier than I think I could ever do justice in a drawing, Max."

Kate didn’t look at Max as she said it. She distracted herself and the coming blush by picking up her pencil and drawing.

“…Wow. Thank you, Kate. That might be the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me,” she chuckled bashfully. Max wasn’t sure if she was more stunned by how profound Kate’s compliment was or that she found the confidence to say it. “I couldn’t even begin to describe how pretty you are. I’m just speechless. Luckily for me, all I have to do is take a picture of you.”

Kate tried to fight it, but a smile and a blush quickly emerged. She wondered if the better response was to offer her thanks or another compliment. Or to just kiss Max, as she’d thought of doing for several minutes. She opted to keep drawing on silently since she couldn’t come up with enough words for the former or enough bravery for the latter.

“Sorry, I’m distracting you, aren’t I?”

“They’re welcome distractions,” Kate said glancing at Max this time, making her wonder if it was more of an invitation than a clever remark.

She didn’t have much time to consider it as Kate leaned in and kissed her. The short but sincere smooch was all it took to paralyze Max, again pleasantly surprised by Kate’s courage. Getting a read on her could be tricky, given how simply her shyness could give way to sweetness and vice-versa. Those mannerisms made it very clear to Max that she liked her a lot, but Max was perpetually worried about pressuring her with something too sudden. She hadn’t planned on it anyway since Kate had just started drawing, but it seemed she certainly didn’t mind the interruption.

Max’s phone buzzed on her leg, interrupting her own thoughts as she fumbled it nervously out of her pocket.

“Wow. Speaking of welcome distractions, Chloe actually responded. I’m super shocked that she’s awake this early. Uh, thanks, by the way…”

Max retreated to her phone while Kate focused on drawing, both suppressing their smiles and their urge to lock lips again.

Chloe’s message did not disappoint:

Chloe: _rad as HELL, where do i buy_

Max: _You’re actually awake?_

Chloe: _yeah im surprised too. answer me girl i want it now_

Max: _Not for sale yet, I’m afraid._

Chloe: _how long?_

Max: _She doesn’t know yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as she finishes it._

Chloe: _OH SHIT your art girlfriend drew this?_

Max: _Drawing, but yeah._

Chloe: _whatever  
           i thought you said she was drawing kids books_

Max: _She’s experimenting._

While that was true, there was a grim reason behind it so Max decided to put it lightly for Kate’s sake. She thought about calling Chloe on speaker to indulge Kate in her glowing praise, but feared any inappropriate comments flying from her mouth.

Chloe: _experimenting with your gay ass too_

Just like that.

Max: _And a very successful experiment at that. In my opinion at least._

Chloe: _you go girl. anyway tell her ill pay her directly, cash in hand, or ill buy her two whales or something  
           and i want it signed_

Max: _You might have to pay her extra for that_

Chloe: _ill pay whatever she wants_

As Max continued texting, Kate leaned back then to assess a large outline she had just sketched and noticed Max’s huge grin as she typed. Kate didn’t want to pry, but couldn’t help being curious.

“What did she say?”

Max opened her mouth, but then thought it easier to explain just by showing her. She handed her phone to Kate and let her read the conversation. The farther down her eyes read, the farther up her lips curled until she wore a full grin matching Max’s.

“See? I told you she’d love it.”

“Wow. I feel like I have to finish it now.” Kate returned Max’s phone to her.

“You’d better, for my sake, or else I’ll have Chloe asking me about it every single day until you do.”

Kate laughed with her, wondering how long it might take. She liked how it was coming along… it was certainly developing better than she expected it to.

“In that case, do you mind if I keep working on it?”

“Oh, no, of course not Kate. I was just joking about finishing it for my sake. I don’t want to pressure you or anything.”

“No, I know. I just feel really good right now, so I want to make the most of it.”

Kate gripped her knees, smiling sincerely at Max. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt such easy inspiration. Feeling so unconcerned and excited about her art was a strange sensation. A fledgling sort of freedom. She considered it a true blessing, and Max the source.

“More power to you,” Max said, laying her hand over Kate’s. “Do you mind if I stay? I don’t want to distract you any more than I already have.”

“Of course I want you to stay Max. And again, they are welcome distractions. But let’s save them for later.”

“Sure. Maybe over a tea and breakfast break at some point?”

“That sounds delightful.” They shared another smile and Kate picked up her pencil, while Max returned to her phone to update Chloe:

Max: _A hella successful experiment! She just kissed me a minute ago._

Chloe: _you better have kissed her back_

Max: _On the cheek. I didn’t want to distract her any more._

Chloe: _nah, go in and romance her with that irish caulfield charm action max_

Max appreciated the support, but she really didn’t want to rush this. Holding hands and stray kisses were more than enough for now, but with how good of a mood Kate seemed to be in right now, Max didn’t mind trying for another and pecked her quick on the cheek.

“A little more encouragement,” she said when Kate glanced at her, regretting it immediately when it sounded so much cheesier than it did in her head.

_‘So much for that Irish Caulfield charm, Action Max…’_

But Kate still thanked Max for it, making her feel a little less stupid and a little more in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Kate Marsh!
> 
> Not what I expected to write when I came back to Life is Strange, I’ll be honest. Looking way back in retrospect I found that I loved Kate a lot more than I remembered. She’s def my favorite character now. Now, I haven’t replayed LiS in a couple years, so if Max or especially Kate sound off or there are any continuity errors, that’s why. I plan on replaying soonish hopefully, and probably writing more Marshfield as a result, so I should have a better grip on their characters again when I do.


End file.
